‘FACE’ FACTS: IT ISN’T FAIR
Kids cover up, but not mask-pusher Abrams
Democratic star and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has sparked outrage after tweeting a photo of herself posing indoors with masked-up students — without wearing a mask herself.
Abrams, 48, joins many of her Democratic peers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who have been seen gallivanting indoors without masks despite supporting strict facecovering mandates.
‘Hypocrisy’
Abrams initially tweeted the photo of herself at Glennwood Elementary School in Atlanta Friday, writing, “Spending time with Glennwood’s amazing students, faculty and staff ranks as spectacular, delightful and outstanding.”
Not only were the pictured students wearing masks, but all the other adults in the room also appeared to be masked.
Abrams’ tweet was later taken down, but users posted pictures of the pol answering questions sans mask during a Q&A and posing for more photos without a mask.
Abrams, who is vaccinated, has been a vocal supporter of mask mandates throughout the pandemic. In July 2020, Abrams slammed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his ban on mask mandates, saying it showed “incompetency” and “immorality.”
Kemp was one in a chorus of conservatives who said the pictures were evidence of the Democrat’s “mask hypocrisy.”
“Stacey Abrams wants state government mask mandates for Georgians and their children. But it looks like they wouldn’t apply when she’s attending a photo op,” Kemp, who beat Abrams in Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election and whom she is expected to rematch in 2022, wrote on Twitter Saturday evening.
Rich Lowry. editor of the National Review, joked on Twitter that Abrams “is a member of the Democratic elite in good standing — mask hypocrisy is practically a status symbol now.”
Conservative commentator Clay Travis wrote, “The number of left-wing politicians who post
photos posing without masks while all the kids around them are wearing masks is stunning.”
Former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, who is running against Kemp in the Republican primary, said in a statement, “Where is Stacey’s mask? We all know Stacey Abrams’ hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Dems ‘revealed’
In a statement posted online Sunday, Abrams’ campaign went on the attack.
“It is shameful that our opponents are using a Black History Month reading event for Georgia children as the impetus for a false political attack, and it is pitiful and predictable that our opponents continue to look for opportunities to distract from their failed records when it comes to protecting public health during the pandemic,” it said.
Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo tweeted, “Our opponents took a brief break from licking Trump’s boots this weekend to issue baseless attacks.”
Groh-Wargo also tried to downplay the incident, explaining in another tweet that Abrams only removed her mask “so she could be heard by students watching remotely and for photos” with kids wearing face coverings. Just last week, Newsom came under fire after posing maskless for a photo during the 49ersRams NFL game — defying a local mandate and the LA stadium’s own requirements. The Democrat insisted he was “very judicious” about wearing the mask and only took it off for a photo.
And when both San Francisco Mayor Breed and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti smiled for a maskless pic with Magic Johnson at the same game, Garcetti claimed he held his breath for the pic, which prevented him from contracting COVID-19.
Breed caused a stir last September, too, when — after issuing one of the strictest indoor mask mandates in the state — she was photographed at a city jazz club dancing and singing without a mask.
Abrams gained nationwide attention during her 2018 campaign against Kemp.
She lost the election by around 50,000 votes but has said the process wasn’t fair because it was run by Kemp, who was then secretary of state.
She was shortlisted to be Joe Biden’s running mate before he chose then-Sen. Kamala Harris.
Abrams was the minority leader in Georgia’s House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017 and is a vocal voting rights advocate.